Karen Derr is running for the District H City Council position as current council member, Adrian Garcia, leaves for his new post as Harris County sheriff. Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008, in Houston. ( Michael Paulsen / Chronicle )

Randy Locke

Joshua Verde

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THE CANDIDATES Ellen Cohen

Occu- pation: Former legislator

Age: 71

Brian Cweren

Occu- pation: Lawyer

Age: 40

Karen Derr

Occu- pation: Real estate agent

Age: 52

Randy Locke

Occu- pation: Former apartment manager

Age: 50

Josh Verde

Occu- pation: Aviation consultant

Age: 32

District C candidates are campaigning on what to do about high-rises and whether former state Rep. Ellen Cohen's experience in Austin makes her the most-qualified or the most- tainted candidate.

Even with substantially redrawn boundaries, which in January will extend from north of Loop 610 down through the Heights and south to the Braeswood area, District C still is ground zero for the battle over height regulations. After a two-year dormancy, plans for the 23-story Ashby high-rise have been revived as apartments instead of condos.

Cohen called the Ashby high-rise a "poor idea," but said the city must be fair to developers who follow city rules and not "move the goalposts" by changing rules midstream. She also produced a 2007 "Dear Neighbor" letter she wrote as a legislator in which she urged then-Mayor Bill White and the council "to do everything within their power to stop this development."

Similar refrains

Most of the other candidates followed Cohen's two-pronged answer of personally opposing the project, but warning against being arbitrary with development regulations.

Real estate agent Karen Derr said, "City Council and the mayor's office did what they should do, which is use what tools they had to make the neighborhood's wishes known to those developers." She said she supports newly proposed regulations that would require more distance between high-rises and their next-door neighbors, but not applied retroactively.

Randy Locke, who left his jobs as an apartment manager and accountant to campaign full-time, said he can solve the Ashby high-rise problem with money.

"I don't believe that the monies offered these builders were sufficient enough to get them to go away," he said. He did not identify the private interests he said offered the developers money, but pledged that, if elected, he would convene a meeting between the developers and those private interests within 30 days, and, "I'll convince the other people that were chipping in the money to give them a little bit more and we'll make the whole thing go away."

"Developers need to know what they can do," aviation consultant Josh Verde said, so the city's development plans cannot be a patchwork of exceptions. On the other hand, he said, allowing high-rises next to homes can be unfair to neighborhoods, he said. Verde proposes phasing in zoning rules over the next two decades.

A steppingstone

Cohen has a target on her because of her name recognition from her time in the Legislature and the $234,000 she has raised, far more than the other candidates combined. Cweren has raised $51,000 this year, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, but most of it has come out of his own pocket.

Cohen, a Democrat, served two terms in the Legislature before being defeated in last November's Republican landslide. Her four years there gave her experience with budgets, problem-solving and relationship building, she said, adding that knowing her way around Austin will help her advocate for Houston issues.

Her opponents are trying to hang her with those years in Austin. Cweren questioned whether Cohen intends to use District C as a stepping stone back to the state Legislature or to Congress. Cohen said she has no intention of running for either office.

Verde questioned whether voters' rejection of Cohen implied that she did not measure up as a legislator. Cohen replied that she was named best freshman bill sponsor of 2007 by a nonpartisan state politics website.

Derr pounced on Cohen for accepting the endorsement of the GLBT Caucus and thousands of dollars from developer Bob Perry, a leading financial sponsor of the 2005 state ballot measure to ban gay marriage.

'Probably' not enough

Cohen explained that she did not know of Perry's stance on gay issues. Asked if she would take money from Perry now, she said, "Probably not." Verde, who made a point of identifying himself as the only openly gay candidate in the race, said "probably" would not cut it in the gay community.

Cohen later said: "If I'm aware that someone wants to give me money that has been against issues affecting the GLBT community, let me be real clear: I will not take their money."